Tony is reserved, calm and unflappable. Every Friday night he goes to Lads’ Night, his main social outlet, drinks beers and plays games. He doesn’t even particularly like games, or the challenges or bets that go along with them, despite being very good at them. But something will happen to Tony this Friday night. Something that will change him and reveal a part of him he didn’t even know existed.

In a perfect storm of coincidences, friends, and new friends, with depths he didn’t even begin to understand, Tony could be starting a journey to a very new life. The question is what will it take for Tony to realise the Toni in him isn’t just a strange indulgence for a single night? And what will the people around him do to push him towards accepting this?

The first part of a new and ongoing serial.

Golden Hours
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I always considered that I would be involved in medicine somehow – I wanted to save lives. I considered myself a caring person, but I also liked the idea of adventure – of standing between life and death and fighting to allow somebody to live. It seemed to me to be the noblest calling.

Chapter 30

The blonde was Sharron and the dark one was Carol. The baby was Tabitha. Once they had stood and gathered their bags of baby necessities, I led them into the clinic where we left the baby with the vet’s wife to look after while I took them though to Jordan’s office.

Curled Up
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

When I retired, I decided that I was going to live a life of leisure. I had made plenty of money and I no longer had any dependents. I just wanted to curl up on the couch and relax.

It was just that my whole life I was driven, and I felt that so long as the driving force was still in me, I could never truly let go and lighten up.

The problem was that I was a man. The problem was between my legs. That simply had to go.

Chapter 28

We wiped them, put them to rest in their cases and then we hugged like a couple of lovers. Joyce was crying with joy, saying that she had never thought that she could have played like this when she was a teenager in Detroit. We changed and took our instruments with us when we left, me with two to carry now.

Chapter 27

Louise got on her phone to Etienne to get him to call the place we had been to lunch yesterday because he knew the owner. Then she told him that we needed lunch for the Stable Sisters plus four and she smiled as she put her phone away.

“He’s shocked,” she said. “He said that the music shop will pay for lunch as long as we stroll around the corner for some pictures there.”

Janet laughed. “Edie, we let you come early and when we arrive you have helpers, transport, and now free lunches. What else did you organize?”

By the time Stella comes to visit again, the changes are pretty much complete. Daddy, Stella and Quindy go out shopping, and Daddy buys Stella a couple of things too, although the trip is mostly to get new underwear and a new swimsuit for Quindy, and some new pants, too.

Chapter 25

On the flight home on Sunday afternoon, I sat between Maureen and Mom and quietly spoke about the future as Ali dozed in my arms.

Mom said that she was going to push Dad into being in Fort Lauderdale by Easter and Maureen said that this would be a traditional weekend for Jordan and me to wed.

We batted it around a bit, and, between us, we thought about an Easter Sunday wedding, at the farm, with a big marquee set up. It would be kept quiet from the press, just for invited guests.

20s Trans gets an unexpected parcel, and her life slowly changes from there.....

Chapter 24

“We are the administrators of the Swan Club. It all started when a few of us got together, one evening, to watch your classical DVD. When it finished, we were all crying and felt as if we could tell each other what we had been holding back.”

7 & 8

Exploring my feelings & On the fast track

Alex’s curiosity gets the best of him and he decides to explore women’s androgynous out in public without Carrie prompting him or having her along. He doesn’t quite have the guts to include a small bust line, so his bra cups lay fallow. On returning home, he tells Carrie where he’s been and how he’d dressed on purpose almost bragging about what he’s done.

Carrie notices that he’s not put anything in the bra cups and corrects the deficit. She then proves to him that he should have gone with the enhancement because not even people who casually know them notice anything. Carrie spring boards the incident and Alex finds himself in a lingerie shop. This leads to a whole new definition of “out and about.”

From there things get a little out of hand.

Bonus Chapter: Helen turned 18, she now has the right to contact her father. Now that she’s out, how will that affect her interaction with her estranged father?

“Hey,” Julius says to him, “you should apologize to Sebastian. About what you said yesterday.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so,” Vincent says, not quite meeting Sebastian’s eyes. “I’m sorry I said stupid stuff when you told us about changing your type. Um, I heard somebody saying you were using new pronouns already?”

Chapter 23

After the meal, the other girls left us, and Alicia went off with Josie to explain why she was sorry. Brad went off to have a drink or two in the bar which left me and Ali with Tony.

“Edie, Josie was devastated once she had watched that DVD. She told me a lot about her time with the Pixies, and her time living with you and your family at the farm. I saw that the papers have said that her brother is the father of little Ali, so Josie is really your sister-in-law.”

A theatrical performance goes off the rails. Can it be saved?

His mommy doesn’t mess up very often, so her apologizing is pretty rare and makes him feel funny when it happens.

Life and Love are far more complicated than we can possibly understand. For one young cop, a journey of self-discovery will teach them that true strength was inside them all along.

Chapter 21

Christmas Eve, the family sat in our lounge to watch it. I had put some serious money into the family coffers and Dad had bought a giant flat screen TV and sound bars.

That night, Jordan and I cuddled on one sofa with Ali on our laps. Jordan had finally admitted to his mother that we were a couple. She, surprisingly, was happy to go along with it, considering that many in the wide world thought we already were Ali’s parents.

He and I would be spending the night in the stable.

Charlie and The Big Win

I suppose that I’d better come out and admit, right now, that I used to be a rowdy teen. Not only that, I was one of a gang of four rowdy teens, the other three also being bullies. Me, I was the one that made the plans, thought about the consequences, and mainly kept us all from spending our schooldays in detention.

Chapter 20

He turned to look at his wife. “Did you feel something, darling?”

“Of course, I did, you big lump. Not that you would notice without being told.” She came over to me and hugged me. “Thank you, I think my husband may be in for a torrid time, because now I’m able to stand up for myself. I know how I can get my way in future.”

“Go get him, girl,” I smiled.

She stepped back, now beside him, not behind as she had been before.

I turned to Kelly. “I think that it may be time we left for the hotel. It’s been a long day.”

Consequences of telling her about the "hobby."

Chapter 19

I had tears in my eyes. When I looked around, Pet and the other girls who had seen it already were also glistening. Jordan sat with tears streaming down his face. He turned to me and buried his head into my shoulder. Pet had let go of my hand and was comforting a weeping Anton. Ian and Matty were wet-eyed. Abigail was rocking a weeping Matt.

Flora said, “I think it still has the power to heal.”